Kyle Athayde and The University of Scranton Jazz Band Perform
New York bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Kyle Athayde will perform “In Concert” with The University of Scranton Jazz Ensemble on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan McLean Center. The performance is free of admission charge and open to the public.
Multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, composer, teacher and arranger Kyle Athayde will join The University of Scranton Jazz Ensemble as their guest soloist for a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, in the University’s Houlihan McLean Center. Admission to the concert is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:40 p.m. and seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis. The program will include a series of works in which Athayde will solo on a variety of instruments.
Athayde will also offer a free masterclass that afternoon for anyone interested in playing pitched percussion instruments. The masterclass is open to not only established mallet percussionists but also keyboard players interested in learning mallet technique. Interested players who are age 16 and older can obtain more information on the masterclass by emailing music@scranton.edu or calling 570-941-7624.
A native of Orinda, California, now based in New York City, and a graduate of The Juilliard School, Athayde plays vibraphone, piano, trumpet, trombone, drums, bongos, congas, timbales, string bass, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, sousaphone and vocal percussion. He is the leader, conductor and principal writer for the New York-based big band, “Kyle Athayde Dance Party,” a group acclaimed for its versatility in the wide scope of styles it performs, and is pianist for The New York Trumpet Ensemble. He composes and arranges music in a variety of genres, with an emphasis on jazz, classical, salsa and electronic.
Athayde’s recent commissioned compositions and premieres include a double concerto for the New York Sinfonietta, works for Bobby Sanabria and The Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra (“Que Viva Harlem”, the most recently released, is featured on a Grammy-nominated recording), and music for the ending credits of the film “Diller, Scofidio + Renfro: Reimagining Lincoln Center and the High Line.” His long line of composing and arranging credits are diverse, and include pieces for the University of California at Berkeley Marching Band, The New York Trumpet Ensemble, The Canadian Brass, The University of Scranton Concert Band and Concert Choir, Manhattan School of Music Trumpet Ensemble, SmashCon 2015, San Francisco Conservatory Brass, and many others.
Athayde has offered classes, clinics, lessons and masterclasses at schools, workshops and camps in eight states. A regular visiting faculty member of the Sitka Fine Arts Camp in Sitka, Alaska, he developed and taught a class on video game music history and composition there, and directed the jazz band and a vocal hip hop class. He is the director of curriculum at the Lafayette Summer Music Workshop, and regularly offers clinics and masterclasses throughout the West Coast area.
The University of Scranton Jazz Band is a 29-member ensemble of big band style instrumentation, made up of University of Scranton student musicians from majors spanning the curriculum. They perform five or more times per year, and the majority of their performances are open to the public, free of admission charge, and often feature a nationally or internationally renowned guest soloist.
For additional information about the performance, visit scranton.edu/music or contact Performance Music at 570-941-7624 or at music@scranton.edu.
